Formula 1’s 2026 launch season has begun, with Red Bull and its sister team Racing Bulls revealing their new F1 car liveries in the early hours of Friday morning.

The 3am GMT unveiling of the 2026 RB22 was courtesy of a Detroit-based launch event to mark the competitive start of the team’s partnership with Ford, and you can re-watch it below.

Red Bull took the covers off a physical car and also released a series of digital images with a slightly different chassis. Both versions are show cars, with Red Bull opting to keep the design of this year’s race car secret for now — in common with other teams.

Max Verstappen described the 2026 livery as “fresh”, but despite the gloss, patterned blue finish, it follows the same formula that Red Bull has followed since its arrival in F1.

The same cannot be said about the power unit: for the first time, Red Bull has developed this in-house, with support from Ford, and the launch event reflected that, with virtual reality demonstration of the engine and battery assembly.

Images of the actual RB22 that Red Bull will race this year could be kept under wraps until the first testing session at the end of this month — or even later. The initial Barcelona test is set to be held behind closed doors, ahead of two further public testing sessions in Bahrain, beginning in mid-February.

Red Bull 2026 F1 car livery reveal: live stream

If you missed the 3am GMT show, then scroll back up on this page to watch the livery reveal from Detroit.

Red Bull 2026 shakedown and testing schedule

Red Bull is likely to take advantage of a filming day (known officially as a promotional event) to shakedown its new car ahead of testing. Teams are allowed two of these days per year and can run a current car for up to 200km (124 miles) on each day. Typically this allows them to film the car on track for use in promotional activities that season.

However, it also offers an opportunity to ensure that all of the car’s systems are operating as expected, in the hope of avoiding any unnecessary delays during testing.

Red Bull has not announced shakedown details, but will be running its car at the first Barcelona test, to be held behind closed doors on January 26-30.

Red Bull’s 2026 car: everything to prove

Red Bull began the 2025 season with key elements from its championship-winning seasons in place: it was led by Christian Horner, with superstar designer Adrian Newey still an employee (although about to depart), and the influential Helmut Marko in his role as team advisor. The car was powered by a competitive customer engine.

None of these are true any longer after Newey’s move to Aston Martin, followed by by the sacking of Horner and Marko’s retirement. To compound the upheaval, Red Bull starts the new season as an engine manufacturer for the first time; its power unit may carry the Ford badge, but it was conceived and built in-house.

It’s not the most reassuring picture for fans of the team, but new boss Laurent Mekies has calmed nerves, having overseen the transformation of Red Bull’s 2025 car from also-ran to title contender.